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HOWAY THE LADS!

Bebop Spoken There

John McLaughlin: '' A Love Supreme coincided with my search for meaning in life". (DownBeat, March 2025).

The Things They Say!

This is a good opportunity to say thanks to BSH for their support of the jazz scene in the North East (and beyond) - it's no exaggeration to say that if it wasn't for them many, many fine musicians, bands and projects across a huge cross section of jazz wouldn't be getting reviewed at all, because we're in the "desolate"(!) North. (M & SSBB on F/book 23/12/24)

Postage

17873 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 194 of them this year alone and, so far, 41 this month (March 14).

From This Moment On ...

MARCH 2025.

Sat 15: Hot Teapots @ St Augustine’s Parish Centre, Darlington. 12:30pm.
Sat 15: Lagos to Longbenton + Belladonna @ Whitley Bay Big Social, Whitley Road, Whitley Bay. 2:00pm. Free. Afrobeat/jazz fusion + soul/funk/R&B
Sat 15: Creakin’ Bones @ Billy Bootleggers. Ouseburn, Newcastle. 4:00pm. Free.
Sat 15: Joseph Carville Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 15: Is This Jazz? @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Tickets: www.eventbrite.co.uk. Performances by Mu Quintet, Jinjé, A Brief Utopia, John Pope & Co + André Marmot (author of Unapologetic Expression: The Inside Story of the UK Jazz Explosion) in conversation + DJ sets ‘til 3:00am. ‘A Festival of New Jazz’.
Sat 15: Vintage Explosion @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 7:30pm. SOLD OUT!
Sat 15: Alligator Gumbo @ The Forum, Darlington. 7:30pm. £15.00.
Sat 15: One Night Standards @ The White Room, Stanley. 8:00pm. £8.67 (inc. bf). Note - previously advertised Salty Dogs cancelled.
Sat 15: Howlin’ Mat @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. Blues guitar.

Sun 16: Jason Isaacs @ STACK, Exchange Sq., Middlesbrough. 1:00-2:45pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Sun 16: Paul Skerritt @ Hibou Blanc, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free. Vocalist Skerritt working with backing tapes.
Sun 16: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 16: Pearl Blossoms @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. Ragtime.
Sun 16: Hot 8 Brass Band @ Wylam Brewery. 7:30pm. ‘Big Tuba Tour’.
Sun 16: ARQ @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.
Sun 16: Air4ce @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 8:30pm (8:00pm doors). £12.00.; £10.00. Tom Atkinson’s all-star band (line-up inc. Lindsay Hannon & Sue Ferris).
Sun 16: Jazz Jam @ Fabio’s, Saddler St., Durham. 8:00pm. Free. A Durham University Jazz Society promotion. All welcome.

Mon 17: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 17: Jamie Toms Quartet @ The Black Bull, Blaydon. 8:00pm. £10.00.

Tue 18: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Laurence Harrison, Paul Grainger, Tim Johnston.
Tue 18: Phil Bancroft’s Beautiful Storm @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £13.20 & £11.00.. A JNE-Gem Arts co-promotion.

Wed 19: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 19: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 19: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 20: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, Holystone. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 20: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £4.00. Subject: Nicknames.
Thu 20: Terri Green Experience @ Pilgrim, Newcastle. 7:30pm. £15.90.
Thu 20: Lindsay Hannon Trio @ The Harbour View, Roker, Sunderland. 8:00pm. Free. Hannon’s ‘Tom Waits for No Man’ set.
Thu 20: Ray Stubbs R&B All Stars @ Mill Tavern, Hebburn. 8:30pm. Free.

Fri 21: Paul Skerritt @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. SOLD OUT!
Fri 21: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 21: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 21: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 21: Giles Strong Quartet @ 1719, Hendon, Sunderland. 7:30pm. CANCELLED!
Fri 21: New Century Ragtime Orchestra @ Gosforth Civic Theatre, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Featuring special guest Martin Litton (piano).

Reviewers wanted

Whilst BSH attempts to cover as many gigs, festivals and albums as possible, to make the site even more comprehensive we need more 'boots on the ground' to cover the albums seeking review - a large percentage of which never get heard - report on gigs or just to air your views on anything jazz related. Interested? then please get in touch. Contact details are on the blog. Look forward to hearing from you. Lance

Wednesday, June 27, 2018

Sunderland-bound acid jazz wizards have Toto’s backing

(Press release).
Amsterdam-based acid jazz troupe Tristan, who play on Sunderland’s Tall Ships stage on Friday, July 13, come enthusiastically recommended by a celebrity fan.
Steve Lukather, guitarist with multi-million selling Californian rock giants Toto, has been following the band for some time and describes them as bringing the best of the 1970s into the current decade. 
“Our drummer, Sebastiaan Cornelissen was a big Toto fan when he was young,” says Tristan’s keyboards player Coen Molenaar ahead of a UK tour for the Going Dutch project which is bringing top musicians from the Netherlands to the UK and Ireland over the next eighteen months.
“Sebastiaan got in contact with their drummer, Jeff Porcaro, who thought Sebastiaan was very talented and was going to give him some lessons, but unfortunately Jeff died before this could happen. This was a big blow but since then, Sebastiaan has sent Steve Lukather all the music he has recorded and when Steve heard Tristan he was so enthusiastic. He wrote Sebastiaan a long e-mail, saying how much he liked what we’re doing. It was a major boost, as you can imagine.”

Tristan formed in 2003, when Molenaar, who previously worked with Jan Akkerman, the guitarist with Dutch prog rock band Focus, met Cornelissen and bassist, Frans Vollink on a recording session. 
“We were actually there to play on an album with a guitarist from Luxembourg and it instantly felt as if we had been playing together for years,” says Molenaar. “To begin with we would tour as a trio with guests, including the great American trumpeter Randy Brecker, who has been another great supporter of ours. But we really needed a singer and it took until 2014 to find the right one. When we met Evelyn Kallansee everything fell into place and that same year we released our first album, Full Power.”
Full Power made an immediate impression. Jazz FM awarded it Album of the Week status and it went straight to the top of the UK Soul charts, going on to win the band a worldwide following. Its successor, 2nd Phase, released in 2015, performed similarly, with its catchy opening track, Supersize My Sunshine becoming a turntable and dancefloor hit.
The band’s music draws on influences including vintage acid jazz, the horns-led soul of Tower of Power and the jazz-funk of Incognito and their latest album, Lifestyle, featured guest contributions from Atlanta-based soul singer Heston and Dutch singer-guitarist Kasper.
Lifestyle, like its predecessors, has sold well and helped to keep the Tristan sound on the airwaves through steady radio play. As Molenaar points out, however, they are essentially a live act and they produce the same high energy levels whether they are playing in the studio or onstage.  
“When we record, the rhythm section are always in the studio together and we tend to record the rhythm tracks in one take, to keep the music vibrant and direct,” he says. “In live performance, we go for the same effect. Our philosophy is, just play. No fooling around, give all your energy and inspire the audience, leave them feeling charged with positive energy and – hopefully - longing for more!”
Friday, July 13: Tristan - Town Moor Stage, Sunderland SR1. 2:00-3:00pm & 5:30-6:15pm. Free. A Tall Ships event. 


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